The Creative Arts Initiative hosted a screening of footage from Rima Yamazaki's current work-in-progress, a film about Buffalo architecture, on Friday Oct. 27, 2017 at Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center, 617 Main St., Buffalo, NY. The screening was filled to capacity. It was followed by a Q&A with Yamazaki.

Kleinhans Music Hall. Image by Rima Yamazaki, 2017.

Rima Yamazaki is an independent documentary filmmaker who specializes in contemporary art and architecture. Yamazaki was CAI Artist-in-Residence during Fall 2017 CAI, using her residency to create a documentary film about architecture in Buffalo, NY.

Yamazaki's practice is an exploration of cinematic expression in documenting, studying and reflecting on the arts. She works as a one-person film crew; all her films are directed, photographed and edited by herself. Her films have been shown at various film festivals and venues internationally.

Buffalo's Central Terminal. Image by Rima Yamazaki, 2017.

Yamazaki's video project examines the architectural culture of Buffalo from various points of view. Yamazaki is especially interested in capturing the ironical ‘architectural imbalance’ happening in Buffalo.

In proposing her CAI project, Yamazaki noted that Buffalo embodies various, sometimes conflicting, aspects of architecture. For example, "Architecture can be both a treasure and a burden to a city. A building is a big and expensive thing, not only to build, but also to maintain. It is not just a place for people to live and work, but also it reflects the society and people’s life".

“Architecture can be both a treasure and a burden to a city.”

Rima Yamazaki

Yamazaki envisioned making this film not a journalistic, educational, or advocacy documentary. She intends to create a ‘creative’ documentary video in an observational style. In the video, Yamazaki seeks to reveal something that cannot be expressed in words, visually and sonically. This is to be a cinematic study on the relationship between architecture, society, and people.

Yamazaki spent the two months of her residency filming at various locations around Buffalo. The Oct. 27th screening was the first chance to see some of the footage she gathered and get a peek at where the project is going. This one-of-a-kind chance to engage with a filmmaker while she is in the process of creating a new film was greatly appreciated by the audience who appreciated Yamazaki's vision of our city. We are looking forward to seeing her completed film.